Operating mechanism having automatically repeated action



Oct. 6, 1936. E. w. BROWN 2,056,599

OPERATING MECHANISM HAVING AUTOMATICALLY REPEATED ACTION Filed June 4, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 E Wfiroww J? Home y Oct. 6, 1936.

OPERATING MECHANISM HAVING AUTOMATICALLY REPEATED ACTION E. W. BROWN Filed June 4, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invenlor z WBraww Home y 1936- E. w. BROWN 2,056,599

OPERATING MECHANISM HAVING AUTOMATICALLY REPEATED ACTION Filed June 4, 1934 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Invenlor Patented 6, i936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OPERATING MECHANISM HAVING AUTO- MATICALLY REPEATED ACTION 7 Claims.

My invention relates generally to mechanism for operating other mechanical devices, and particularly to mechanism having automatically repeating action, and an important object of the invention is to provide mechanism of the character indicated which is motivated by explosions of explosive material or of rapidly burning fuels, the exploding of the explosives or rapidly burning fuels being caused to occur at regular or at irregular intervals according to the condition of operation of said mechanical devices. Another important object of my invention is to provide mechanism operated by explosion and especially adapted for actuation by such devices as oil circuit breakers for restoring the oil circuit breakers to initial position, after circuit breaking operation thereof.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the drawings, wherein for purposes of illustration 1 have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a sectional elevational view of the device of the invention showing the same applied to an oil circuit breaker.

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the device per se.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the cartridge magazine.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the firing plate.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the spindle carrying the magazine and the firing plate.

Figure 7 is an elevational view taken from the right of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the magazine feeding arrangement.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the firing pin operating member.

Figure 10 is a sectional view showing the relation of the stop pin to the slide rod and trip rod.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 generally designates a wall or the like support upon which the oil circuit breaker generally designated 6 is aflixed, this device having the resetting arm I which is initially and normally in the set position shown in Figure 1 in full lines and falls to the dotted line position shown in this figure with the breaking of the circuit with sufficient force to operate the'trigger actuating mechanism to be described below.

A bracket generally designated 8 and secured to the wall 5 supports the operating mechanism of the invention in operative relation to the resetting arm I.

The operating mechanism of the invention comprises the heavy metallic cylinder 9 which is provided with the concentric vertical piston bore ll! which'is tapered at its lower end as indicated at M to a reduced portion i2.

Depending from the lower end of the cylinder 9 and eccentrically located is the spindle generally designated 53 which has the threaded por- 0 tion it screwed into a threaded socket in the lower end of the cylinder 9, and has the smooth portion on which the cartridge magazine rotates, and the reduced portion it provided with the longitudinal slot ii on which the firing plate 15 i8 is mounted, the firing plate it having a fixed key E9 in its center opening which engages the slot ll whereby the firing plate is prevented from rotating relative to the spindle portion to.

The firing plate it has slidably mounted in a 20 vertical opening therein the firing pin Zll which has thereon between a stop pin 2i and the bottom of the firing plate M a spring 22 which pushes the firing pin normally downwardly in the unflred position shown in Figure 2. The 25 upper end of the firing pin is arranged to strike the lower end of a cartridge 23 which is arranged in one of a number of circumferentially spaced cartridge chambers M opening vertically through the top and bottom of the magazine. 30 The upper ends of the cartridge chambers 24 are arranged to be brought successively into registry with the lower end of the reduced portion l2 of the bore of the cylinder 9 with which the firing pin is aligned so that when the firing pin 20 is raised with suflicient force against the lower firing end of the cartridge 23 in the particular cartridge chamber then in registry, the exploding charge of the cartridge will pass into the bore I0 40 of the cylinder 9 and drive the piston 25 upwardly in and partly out of the bore l0 to a suflicient height to engage the resetting arm I and swing the same upwardly to its reset position and thereby reset the circuit breaker. 45

It will be observed that a small exhaust passage 26 is radially arranged in communication with the bore ID in the lower end of the cylinder 9 permitting escape of some of the gases generated by the explosion of the cartridge, and that 50 other radial passages 21 and 28 spaced upwardly from the exhaust passage 26 permit escape of these gases from the bore Ill when the lower end of the piston 25 has passed above them, so that the bore ID will be adequately exhausted of 55 the products of combustion of the fired shell or cartridge 23 so that its return-by gravity to its initial position after operation will not be hampered by gases in the bore l6.

Attached to the upper end of the piston 25 by means of a pin 29 is the yoke plate 30 which is adapted to rest on the upper end of the cylinder 9 in the initial position of the piston shown in Figure 2 and which is carried upwardly by the piston 25 when the piston is operated upwardly by the explosion of one of the shells 23.

The shape of the yoke 30 is clearly shown in Figure 3. A depending slide rod 3| has a threaded upper end portion 32 traversing the left hand end of the yoke and carrying nuts 33 and 34, respectively, which engage opposite sides of the plate 30 fixing the slide rod 3| to the left hand end of the plate 39. A similar rod 35 having a threaded upper end portion 36 traversing the right hand end of the plate 39 has nuts thereon fixing the rod 33 to the plate 30 for movement therewith. The lower part of the rod 35 slides through a guide hole 39 in the lateral extension 40 of the firing plate I8.

The lower end portion of the slide rod 3| has a longitudinally adjustable collar 4| which is arranged to operatively engage the under part of one side of the firing lever l2 when the piston rises as the result of the firing of a cartridge so as to elevate the left hand end of the lever sufficiently to reengage the same with the latch 63, thereby cooking the firing lever. The lever 42 is pivoted intermediate its ends on a pivot 43 located in an opening 44 in a vertical portion 45 of a bracket 46 attached to the lower part of the cylinder 9. The slide rod 3| slides through a guide hole 41 in the horizontal part of the bracket 46 and freely through an elongated slot 48 in the firing lever 42. A leaf spring 49 has one end anchored to the lower end of the vertical portion 45 of the bracket 46 as indicated at 50 and its opposite end bearing against the lower part of the firing lever inwardly of the vertical portion 45 so as to normally urge the inner end of this lever toward and beyond the dotted line position shown in Figure 2. In moving through the dotted line position, the firing lever strikes the lower end of the firing pin so as to move the firing pin 2|] vertically and against the lower end of the cartridge 23, thereby firing the cartridge and causing the upward movement of the piston 25 accompanied by upward movement of the yoke 30 and the rods 3| and 35.

An upper bracket generally designated 5| is fixed to the cylinder 9 by a shank threaded as indicated at 52 in the side of the cylinder 9 and stands laterally outwardly therefrom in a horizontal position and has an opening 53 slidably receiving the slide rod 3| and a second opening slidably receiving the trip rod 51. A portion 54 of this bracket depends between the slide rod 3| and the trip rod 51 to be described and has slidably mounted in a horizontal position a retaining pin 55 which is urged toward the slide rod 3| by the spring 56. While the slide rod 3| and the trip rod 51 are in their initial depressed positions as shown in Figure 2, the spring 56 forces one end of the pin 55 into the recess 51' in the trip rod. The recess 3| in the slide rod 30 is aligned with the opposite end of the pin 55 so that when the trip rod is displaced from the initial position, the pin 55 is displaced so that it engages in the recess 3| in the slide rod 36 whereby the trip rod 51 is yieldably held in the depressed position. When the slide rod 3| is operated to an elevated position the end of the pin 55 is forced out of the recess 3| in the rod 3| in a left hand direction and into the recess 51' in the rod 51 thereby preventing movement of the trip rod 51 during the operation of the rod 3| or in any position of the slide rod 3| other than its initial fully depressed position corresponding to the initial position of the piston 25. The lower end of the trip rod 51 slides in an opening 58 in the horizontal portion of the bracket 46 while the upper part thereof slides in an opening 58 in the bracket ii. A spring 59 interposed between the upper side of the bracket 5| and the cotter pin 60 in the upper end of the trip rod 51 maintains the trip rod normally in the elevated position 1:: which it is shown in. Figure 2.

The resetting member 1 of the oil circuit breaker falls into the dotted line position shown in Figure 1 when the circuit is broken and in so doing strikes the upp=.. and of the trip rod 51 with sufficient force to push the trip rod 51 downwardly so that its beveled lower end 6| strikes the beveled surface 62 of the swingable dog 63 which is pivoted on the pivot 65 located in an opening 64 in the bracket 46 to the left of the trip rod 51 as shown in Figure 2. A leaf spring 66 having its upper end fastened as indicated at 61 to the left hand extremity of the horizontal portion of the bracket 46 engages its lower end with the side of the dog 63 so as to push the dog toward the position in which it is shown in Figure 2 in which the hook portion 68 of the dog is engaged with the hook portion 69 of the firing lever 42 so that the firing lever is held in the unoperated cockedposition.

It will be obvious that when the resetting member 1 of the oil circuit breaker falls and strikes the upper end of the trip rod 51 the trip rod 51 will be actuated downwardly and will as a result throw the dog 63 toward the left against the tension of the spring 66 and thereby release the hooked end 69 of the firing lever 42. As a result of this the spring 49 of the firing lever will swing the right hand end of the firing lever against the lower end of the firing pin so as to throw the firing pin 20 against the cartridge and explode the cartridge, so that the piston 25 and the plate 36 will be caused to rise toward the dotted line position shown in Figure 1 and in so doing engage and restore the resetting member 1 to its initial set position.

The firing plate I8 is of circular form as shown in Figure 5, while the magazine generally designated 10 is of fiat cylindrical form having the circumferentially spaced chambers 24 for receiving and holding the cartridges 23. Circumferentially spaced ratchet teeth 1| are concentrically spaced around the center of the magazine represented by the spindle hole l5 and are engaged by the ratchet dog 12 which is vertically slidable in the socket 13 containing the resisting spring 14 interposed between the top end of the socket and the upper end of the dog 12. The socket 13 is formed on a tubular part 15 which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 16. The shaft 16 has the threaded end 11 threaded into the lower part of the cylinder 9. A helical spring 18 circumposed on the shaft 16 outwardly of the outer end of the tubular part 15 has one end anchored to the shaft 16 as indicated at 19 and the opposite end anchored to the tubular part as indicated at 80 whereby any rotation of the part 15 on said shaft will be accompanied by tensioning of the spring 16 tending to restore the dog 12 to engagement with the ratchet notches ii on the magazine.

Extending laterally from the outer end portion of the tubular part 15 is the lateral arm 80' which has the elongated slot 8| in which the rod" 35 works. The rod 35 is provided with a collar 82 arranged to engage the upper side oi the arm 80' as shown in Figure '7 and hold this arm in a depressed position in which the dog i2 is engaged with one of the ratchet teeth.

As any one of the cartridges 23 is fired and the piston 25 moves upwardly and in so doing carries with it the yoke 30 and the rods 8i and 36, the collar 82 on the rod 35 will be upwardly withdrawn from the top of the arm 88' and the spring it will rotate the tubular part it accompanied by the socket l3 and the dog it toward the rear in Figure 2 so that the lower end of the dog i2 will assume a position over the next succeeding one of the ratchet teeth ill. After the explosion has taken place and the weight of the piston 25 and the plate 30 and the rods 36 and 35 has caused these parts to return toward their depressed positions, the collar $2 on the rod 35 will strike the upper side of the arm 8d and cause the tubular part it and the socket it and the dog it to move toward the positions from which they were moved originally, thereby causing the dog it to operatively engage with the said succeeding one of the ratchet teeth ii and thereby shift the magazine l on the spindle i so as to place the next succeeding unfired cartridge 23 under the reduced portion it of the bore of the cylinder ready for firing in the same manner as described. It will be obvious that any number of cartridge chambers 24, loaded with cartridges may be provided or an automatic feed means (not shown), for replenishing the cartridges in the magazine may be provided, so that the device of the invention may be practically continuously operable automatically.

The magazine it is loaded by removing the nut on the lower end of the spindle i3, depressing the firing plate 18 and shoving the cartridges 28 up into place with their rims engaging shoulders extending radially outwardly from the lower ends of the chambers 24. The firing plate It is then replaced so as to abut the lower ends of the cartridge in the position shown in Figure 2.

Although I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not desire to limit the application of the invention thereto, and any change or changes may be made in material, and in structure and arrangement of parts, within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:-

l. A device of the character described comprising a cylinder having a piston operating therein, said cylinder having an axial opening, cartridge magazine means having opening means successively registrable with said axial opening, said magazine being adapted to be moved to register one after another of said opening means with the opening of said cylinder, firing pin means supported adjacent said magazine, firing pin operating means supported adjacent said firing pin, and trip means adapted to be operatedby the member to be operated and operatively engageable with the firing pin means for operating the firing pin and exploding the cartridge present in said cartridge containing means to operate said piston to reset the member to be operated.

2. A device of the character described coming of said cylinder, firing pin means supported adjacent said magazine, firing pin operating means supported adjacent said firing pin, and trip means adapted to be operated by the member to be operated by the piston, said trip means being operatively engageable with said firing pin means for operating the firing pin operating means and exploding a cartridge to operate said piston to reset said member to be operated, and means operated by said piston for registering diiferent ones of the cartridge holding openings of the magazine with the opening in said cylinder.

3. In a device of the character described, an explosion cylinder having a piston operating therein, 'said cylinder being provided with an axial opening, a cartridge magazine arranged to successively register diiferent individual cartridges with said axial opening, firing pin means supported in relation to said magazine means and arranged to fire a cartridge registered with said opening when operated, firing pin operating means operatively engageable with said firing pin means upon operation of said operating means by an outside agency, means assisting the return of said piston to initial position after operation, and magazine operating means arranged to be actuated by the return movement of said piston.

4. In a device of'the character described, an explosion chamber having an explosion operated piston working therein, said chamber being provided with an exploding charge receiving opening, a cartridge magazine arranged to successively register different ones of a plurality of cartridges with said opening, second means operable to fire a registered cartridge, third means operable for conditioning operation of said second means, and fourth means operatively connecting said piston and the cartridge magazine for operating the same, and fifth means assisting return of said piston to initial position after operation.

5. A device for resetting a member into initial position after movement thereof to another position, said device comprising an explosion cylinder having a piston working therein, said piston being arranged to operate so as to engage and reset said member, an explosive cartridge magazine carrying a plurality of explosive cartridges arranged to be registered with an explosive charge receiving opening formed in said cylinder, cartridge exploding means arranged to be operated by the said movement of said member for firing a cartridge registered with said opening in the cylinder for operating said piston and resetting said member into its initial position.

6. A device for resetting a member into initial position after movement thereof to another position, said device comprising an explosion cylinder having a piston working therein, said piston being arranged to operate so as to engage and reset said member, an explosive cartridge magazine carrying a plurality of explosive cartridges arranged to be registered with an explosive charge receiving opening formed in said cylinder, cartridge exploding means arranged to be operated by the said movement of said member for firing a cartridge registered with said opening in the cylinder for operating said piston and resetting said member into its initial position, said cartridge exploding means including a spring actuated firing lever, a latch for holding said firing lever in cocked position, and trip means arranged to hold the latch means engaged with the firing lever, said trip means being operatively engageable by said member in moving toward said other position.

'7. A device for resetting a member into initial position after movement thereof to another position, said device comprising an explosion cylinder having a piston working therein, said piston being arranged to operate so as to engage and reset said member, an explosive cartridge magazine carrying a plurality of explosive cartridges. arranged to be registered with an explosive charge receiving opening formed in said cylinder, cartridge exploding means arranged to be operated by the said movement of said member ior flring a. cartridge registered with said opening in the cylinder for operating said piston for resetting said member into its initial position, said cartridge magazine being movable to register diflferent ones of said cartridges with said opening in the cylinder, and magazine operating means connected to said piston for moving said cartridge magazine upon each stroke of the piston so as to remove an exploded cartridge from registry and for registering a new cartridge with said opening in the cylinder.

EDWARD WEBB BROWN. 

